(Park Hills, MO) The third seeded Farmington Knights move on to the championship game of the 68th annual Bob Sechrest Jr. Central Christmas Tournament after a one-point semifinals thriller over the South Iron Panthers, 49-48. The Knights have a shot at their first Christmas Tournament championship since 2018.
Farmington came out ready to open the game outsourcing South Iron 12-8 in the first quarter. The score went back and forth a number of times, with the Panthers outscoring the Knights 16-14, but the Knights still led by two going into halftime. The two teams were evenly matched out of the half, where Farmington outscored South Iron by just one. The two teams were neck and neck in the fourth quarter and the score sat even within the last minute. Two free-throws made for the Knights and one free-throw missed for the Panthers proved the difference in the end and Farmington punched their ticket to the championship game.
Cannon Roth and Maxon Lamonds shared the lead in scoring for the Knights, both putting up 12. Cooper Tripp also put up 10 and shot 75% from the field for Farmington in the win. Roth was the game changer for the Knights as he pulled down 13 rebounds, earning himself Little Caesars Player of the Game.
“He does a lot for us,” Farmington head coach Garrett Callahan said of Roth. “He steps up big for us in a lot of games.”
Farmington will move on to play the Central Rebels in the championship game on Saturday, Dec. 30 at 7:30 pm. South Iron will play the Hillsboro Hawks for third place on Saturday at 4:30pm.